


the coffee kingdom

by funwars



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, coffee shop AU, dont get too excited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2018-12-23 03:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11981178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funwars/pseuds/funwars
Summary: Lucas needs money for his experiments. Taako doesn't mean to be the worst customer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> someone on twitter made a thread about coffee shop aus and i knew what i had to do.
> 
> this is my first fanfic for this fandom! and its cliche and me loving a background character, because of course it is.
> 
> maybe ill upload their date if i can think of what their date would be? who knows! (hey get it? like the crystal kingdom? but coffee? get it?)

If Lucas had a choice, he would spend every day working on his experiments. He's  _close_ , the robots he's been tinkering with for  _so long_  are coming together, No. 3113 may look scrappy but he's proud of her, his first steps toward making a  _difference_  in this garbage world, but...robots cost money.

He debates selling his work, but that goes against everything he's worked for. Goes against the Miller family name. Lucas wants to be able to help, to teach kids things that his mother taught him. Hodge Podge could  _do that_ , he knows it, but his supplies have run low (and that might be because he's trying to build so many other things, too).

He begrudgingly gets the job at the uppity coffee shop in the middle of Neverwinter, the 'Help Wanted' sign taunting him every time he would walk past and get himself groceries. It's been a few months, and he's made a few...acquaintances at the shop, but he's not there to make friends. They're nice, his manager is a woman that he would be scared of in any other circumstance--a tall, orc woman named Killian who he goes out of the way to smile at because if he doesn't, he's positive he'll get suplexed through the counter.

"Hey, Luc!" Killian says cheerfully as he walks in the back door, and he flashes his best not-annoyed smile at her as he grabs his apron off its hook. Motherfucking robot couldn't just  _work_ , had to blow up in his stupid face; he's just glad that he got his arms over his face before pieces of metal went flying everywhere.

"Rough night?" Lucas grunts in agreement, fixing one of the band-aids on his forearm with a sigh.

"Just your average robo-explosion."

Killian chuckles and pats him on the shoulder, muttering something about that not being normal, but Lucas doesn't pay it any mind. He didn't sleep at all, his eyes  _hurt_  from being open for so long, and his head throbs in time with his heart. If he can just get to a coffee machine before--

There's a line before he can even say hi to his coworker. He has to stop the groan that threatens to come out as he's told to start making orders, puts on his best I-don't-want-to-stab-myself face, and starts shouting orders.

By the time he can breathe again, his hands are shaking. Should he sit down or something? He glances at the line, just one person now, and makes himself a black iced coffee to down in  _record_ time. When he looks up again, Carey and another guy he hasn't bothered to learn the name of are staring at him like he has four heads, and he just raises an eyebrow back.

"Yes?"

"I don't know if I should be impressed or worried," Carey says on a laugh, looking at the other guy, who nods.

Lucas glances between the dragonborn and the now-empty cup, and back up at Carey as he fills it up a second time and starts to drink it. Carey makes a face and gags, shaking her head.

"Jesus, dude, have you ever slept in your life?"

"Probably."

He's forced into small talk as he starts to clean up the counter, a taller man named Avi coming over and clapping Lucas on the shoulder, telling him that "you drink coffee the way my dad drinks beer!" which he...is not sure how to respond to. But the guy seems nice, smiling too much and sipping out of a hot coffee cup that Lucas can  _tell_ is not full of coffee.

Lucas is left alone up front when Avi and Carey head to their breaks (Lucas insisted that he could handle it on his own, rarely did people come in at this time), and he's adjusting one of the bandages around one of his knuckles when someone enters, the bell making him jolt up and put on his best face. Which immediately drops, when the person walking in is clearly not paying attention. He speaks loudly on his phone despite it being right next to his mouth, and Lucas isn't going to let himself get angry. He's had a long morning, he hasn't slept, his hands are shaking, but he's not going to get angry.

He's not going to get angry when the elf says, "Hold on, bubbeleh," to the phone and puts it down, flashing a toothy smile at Lucas. He's not going to get angry when the elf peruses the menu for a solid  _five minutes_ and creates the most convoluted,  _disgusting_  order known to man. The elf finishes his order with a drawl, and Lucas is about to repeat the order, when he gets cut off.

"I'm  _confident_ that you're gonna get it right, my guy. Slap the name T-double-a-k-o on the side and you got yourself a masterpiece."

He's not going to get angry.

Lucas grits his teeth against the sugary stench of the creation he's making, debates why this guy would even  _get coffee_ if there's barely any coffee in it, and then. And  _then._

"Yeah, yeah, I'm back, sorry. Gotta get my dose of sugar and caffeine before I brave you and Barry being gross all day, you know how it is."

Lucas wants to drop the whole fucking drink into the garbage.

"Taako," he says, loudly, staring the elf in the face. He's not paying attention. Awesome!

" _Taako!"_ he tries again, louder, and Taako jumps before turning and taking the drink off the counter.

"Thanks..." he follows Taako's eyes as they look for his nametag, and part of him wants to hide it, "Lucas. Lucas! Thank you."

He slides a gold piece onto the counter and leaves with the concoction in one hand and his phone in the other. His anger has subdued a little, enough to notice how  _well-dressed_ this elf is on his way out, and he doesn't know  _why_ it makes him feel so bad about his stained jeans and fucked up t-shirt, but it does.

God, he needs to sit.

* * *

 

The next few times Lucas sees Taako, he seems...apologetic. He comes in around the same time, orders a drink that's still  _disgusting_ , but Lucas learns that he doesn't really taste it so he likes to switch it up. He always tips well, and after the sixth time (who's counting?) he doesn't move when Lucas slides him his drink.

"Tell me about yourself, Luco."

It catches him off-guard--the nickname, the  _question_ \--and he realizes he doesn't know how to answer. Has he ever even told anyone...about himself? Killian asked because she interviewed him and he  _had_ to, but that was all the standard stuff. He works in his lab alone, he needs money for more parts, and that's about it.

"I...make robots, I guess."

"Wow, your life is real fuckin' interesting, huh," Taako muses, taking a sip of the drink that makes Lucas cringe, and he flashes that toothy smile again.

"I don't know what you're expecting. I work here to make money for my experiments. I have a lab on the outskirts of town. That's pretty much it."

"Woah, slow down, I got lost in the story." Lucas  _laughs_ and he realized that...he hasn't done that in a while.

Sure, he chuckles when No.3113 accidentally bumps into the doorframe when she's adjusting to her new modifications, or triumphantly when something  _doesn't_ blow up in his face. He busies himself with a machine to hide the fact that he's so surprised by something so mundane.

"What about you then? You have a story that'll blow my mind?" Lucas tries, stumbling over his words only a little bit, and he's interrupted by the door opening and people walking in.

When he gets to look over after the family of four leaves, there's an empty cup on the counter. He's about to get mad, but when he picks it up, there's a phone number and a name scrawled neatly across it. Obviously magically done, but Lucas still looks around for any sign of Taako or Killian before pulling out his phone and punching in the number. Does he wait? Does it seem to eager if he sends a text right then and there? No, he's at work, he should be responsible. But...he  _wants_ to talk to Taako. That's a first for him.

Lucas knows a  _lot_ , but he doesn't know the first thing about feelings.

* * *

Their conversations aren't too in-depth over text, but Lucas looks forward to it. Sure, it slows down his progress on Hodge Podge a  _lot_ , but he likes having someone to talk to. No.3113 notices and tries to bug him about it, will make comments when Lucas drops a screwdriver and grabs his phone when it buzzes, and Lucas comes to two more realizations.

He has feelings for Taako. And he feels incredibly lonely.

It's weird to look  _forward_ to going into work. He walks in and Killian notices that he's actually  _eager_  to go out front, he doesn't take much pushing, and it takes all of two seconds to figure out why.

The door opens, Taako enters, and Lucas visibly perks up. Killian shares a look with Carey, who doesn't hesitate to step in.

"Hey, Taako!" she says cheerily, and Lucas jumps when Killian comes next to him and leans down to whisper in his ear.

"You should go for it."

Lucas yelps and blushes deeply, turning around to look at Killian, who's laughing. "Wh-I don't- _what?"_

He turns back around only to be met by Taako staring at him incredulously, that  _stupid_  toothy grin on his face, and Lucas is pretty sure his face is on fire.

"You good, my man?"

"Great!" he says too quickly, picking up a large cup and a pen, "What can I get for you?"

He misses when Carey and Killian high-five behind him, but he nearly drops the cup a couple times in trying to get Taako's order written out on it.

Lucas can feel Taako watching him as he makes the drink, and he has to make sure his hands are steady as he goes through the steps that he has memorized by now. All the drinks have the same components, just in a different order, and he doesn't mind that this order is particularly long because he doesn't know if he can face Taako after that.

"Um, Tay-ko?" Lucas jokes, pushes his glasses up and pretends to squint to read the name that he doesn't have written, and Taako laughs loudly.

"That was a joke! You made a joke! I'm so proud!" Lucas bites his bottom lip and smiles, sliding the drink over and watching Taako wipe at his eyes dramatically and take it.

"Thanks. First one ever." Taako grins and Lucas heart flips, and suddenly he's blushing as hard as he was a few minutes ago.

"I'd like to take you out sometime," Taako says after a moment, and Lucas gapes at him. This gorgeous, confident elf, taking him on a date? Somebody pinch him.

"Close your mouth, you'll get bugs," he teases and Lucas does, and Taako winks at him, "I'll text you the details, sugar."

"I-uh-y-yeah! That's...awesome!" Nice. Nailed it.

Lucas watches him as he leaves, and he doesn't even notice Carey come up and grab his shoulders. "Holy shit, Luc!"

"Did that just happen?"

Lucas' heart leaps that night, when he's writing notes down in the dim light of his bedroom and his phone buzzes next to him.

_call out tomorrow. i have a plan._

Lucas is terrified.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako rushes in. Lucas is nervous. They break and enter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can barely tell its a coffee shop au anymore. does this work with what neverwinter is like? who cares. life is meaningless. also, my headcanon lucas is trans because i do what i want. feel free to talk to me about him on tumblr, same username :)

Lucas is the smartest person No-3113's ever known. Arguably, she hasn't known many others, but she understands the breadth of Lucas' knowledge. She's watched him perfect the schematics for new robots to teach children and help others, knows her  _ own  _ limits and all the things she can do—and how amazing it all truly is. 

But, as she watches Lucas fly up from his desk and nearly topple backwards off his desk chair, a piece of paper stuck to his face and the indent of a pen clearly on his cheek, she loses a good amount of the respect she has for him.

" _ What?  _ Why'd you let me—" Lucas says a little too loudly after balancing himself, yanking the paper off of him and adjusting his glasses (how did he even sleep with those on?) with an angry huff.

"Um, someone named...Taako is at the door?" she says hesitantly, floating a step back when Lucas unceremoniously yells " _ Fuck!"  _ and explodes out of his chair, nearly knocking himself over again in the process. The little bit of respect she had for this man is just barely hanging on.

"What—why—did you—let him _ in!  _ I need to shower, oh gods—"

"He kind of...let himself in."

Lucas curses again and starts hastily tugging off his lab coat, which No-3113 takes as her cue to leave and make sure Taako hasn't...gods know what he could do, but from the minute of interaction with him she's had, she's a little more than worried.

"Sorry about the commotion, he'll be out in a few minutes. He wasn't really expectin' someone here," she says as she goes back out to Taako, eyeing him warily as he goes through the mess in Lucas' kitchen (that she's been meaning to handle, if it weren't for the  _ worse _ mess in his room).

"Don't sweat it," Taako says, going through a cabinet and clicking his tongue disapprovingly, "Nothing? Not even the  _ basic  _ spices?"

No-3113 doesn't know why she even bothers anymore.

She stops trying to talk to this well-dressed elf after she gets a lecture on having nonstick pans—like she cares, Lucas barely eats at normal times let alone  _ cooks _ —instead opting for cleaning up the small, cluttered kitchen table and not letting herself get annoyed by Taako's meddling. Whatever. If Lucas likes him, she likes him.

Rushing is never a problem for Lucas; he's used to getting distracted by his work and having to run somewhere, late for something he agreed to begrudgingly. He tends to get too far into his head, forcing himself out, and rushing to do the  _ real  _ things he should do. But this? He barely has time to dry off from his shower, spends too long trying to find his nicer clothes in the mess of his other, unexciting clothing, and then stares at himself in the mirror angrily for a solid two minutes.

Which is why he startles a little when No-3113 barges in again and immediately goes "Nope!" right at him. He rolls his eyes and folds his arms over his chest, turning to face her—but she's already digging through his clothes for him.

"I don't have  _ time—" _

"You are  _ not  _ going out like that on my watch, boy," she cuts in without turning towards him, picking up clothes and shoving them at him, "now,  _ change,  _ before I make you do it."

She can't, they both know that, but Lucas doesn't have enough energy to argue.

The baggy t-shirt and ratty jeans get traded in for a black button down that he didn’t know he  _ had  _ and better-fitting jeans, and No-3113 stares at him until he sighs and pulls his wet hair out of the ponytail to dry.

“I don’t see why it matters!”

“You’re gonna have the world’s worst split ends and you’ll have to cut it before you’re ready to,” she says as she looks at Lucas’ reflection in the mirror, “I still think short’ll look good on ya’.”

“I’ll do it eventually,” Lucas mutters, smiling back at No-3113, “thank you.”

“Now get on out there! You have a date!”

Lucas flushes a little at the prospect of this being a  _ date,  _ giving himself another once over in the mirror; he thinks about how there was a long time where he didn’t like how he looked—years of his mom assuring him that he’s handsome falling on deaf ears—and he’s still not 100%, maybe he’ll never be, but feeling good in his skin is new and  _ exciting _ and his mom would be so happy for him. He takes a deep breath, smooths the front of his shirt (or is he wiping off the clamminess?) and steps out of his room.

“I’m sorry that took so long, I wasn’t expecting—”

“Don’t apologize, I should’ve given some kind of warning,” Taako says from within Lucas’ fridge, sorting through his foods with a small frown, “Have you never bought food in your entire life?”

“I, um, don’t really cook. Ever.”

Taako gives a scandalized gasp, pulling his head out of the fridge and covering his heart with his hand. “My gods! Never?”

Lucas shakes his head—his mom was never a big cook, she would only do so after a huge discovery or any celebration, mostly opting for a quick pasta or something purchased most of the time—and Taako sighs.

“Alright, change of plan,” the elf says, and when Lucas expects him to continue, he just smiles.

“...what’s the plan?”

“You’ll find out soon enough bubbeleh.”

Lucas can’t tell if he feels underdressed or not; Taako’s donning some kind of skirt that trails behind him but is mid-thigh in the front and some  _ very  _ nice boots, but up top is a too-loose shirt hanging off a shoulder with too many accessories to count. Lucas thinks the slouchy wizard’s hat is a nice touch.

“I didn’t realize you had so much hair,” Taako comments as they head out, and Lucas subconsciously brings a hand up to touch his hair and check if it’s dry so he can throw it up.

“I um, I usually keep it up.” Taako watches as Lucas throws it into a ponytail with a look on his face he can’t quite decipher.

“Then why keep it long?”

It’s a simple question, but he has to think about it as they walk. This seems to be a trend, simple questions catching him off-guard. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t let himself process his mother’s death completely. Maybe it’s because it’s just easy. Even he doesn’t know, and in the length of uncomfortable silence he’s created between them, Taako asks another question to which he nods.

Lucas isn’t sure why he trusts Taako enough to fix his hair, especially on a public bench in the middle of a busy sidewalk in Neverwinter, but there he is, eyes shut against his better judgement as Taako combs his nimble fingers through the sides of his hair.

“It’s still up, but also still down. Kind of like cheating,” Taako says as he stands up, smiling down at him as Lucas touches the sides carefully.

(Later when Lucas looks at himself in the mirror he sees a bun he’ll never be able to recreate and the rest of his hair falling rather nicely by his shoulders, as nice as curls can stay after hours of running around, and he swears he’ll try to take better care of it.)

Taako leads him to a very manicured pathway that seems familiar, and as they approach their destination, panic rises in Lucas’ throat.

“I hate to be, uh, _that_ guy, but—this is Lord Artemis Sterling’s manor, is it not?”

Taako looks back at Lucas with a grin that borders on  _ dangerous,  _ sharp teeth poking out and making Lucas swallow thickly. “You trust me?”

Lucas doesn’t regret nodding.

They come across a fence, and Lucas remembers that he’s never jumped a fence before. Which makes sense, he spends his time tinkering on robots and learning as much as he can about the universe around him, not getting himself into sticky situations. So, when they stop in front of the fence, Lucas is a bundle of nerves. Moreso than he was before.

“I’ve—”

“Never done this before. Yeah, I saw that one comin’ from a mile away.”

Lucas laughs and loops his fingers in the fence, tugging on it absently. “What do I do?”

Taako explains in a pretty unhelpful way and, predictably, floats himself up and over. Lucas struggles for a few minutes, toes slipping out of the holes of the fence time and again (once he lands square on his ass and Taako is doubled over in laughter), and soon enough, Lucas is levitating up and over the fence and landing softly on his feet next to Taako.

“You’re infuriating.” Taako shrugs and Lucas smiles at the back of his head as they walk further— _ trespass,  _ Lucas remembers—onto the property.

The garden is as gorgeous as you would expect for the Lord of Neverwinter. Rows and rows of various flowers of every color, neatly trimmed bushes that look almost plastic, small cement statues of various Gods (Lucas doesn’t believe that Sterling knows who they are, but that’s neither here nor there). Taako leads him through the dewy grass to a large gazebo with a very clichè picnic setup in the middle. The elf explains that his sister helped him out with setting everything up here, implying that they had  _ tested  _ this location once before, and that only makes him even more nervous to be there.

“Don’t worry, we didn’t get caught. That baby’s guards are pretty chill.”

They pull out the blanket (read: Lucas pulls out the blanket and Taako helpfully lifts up the basket to get it out of the way) and settle down, Lucas watching as Taako pulls out various sized containers and sets them out between them. He’s absolutely out of his element, and he wonders, briefly, if Taako would be interested in watching him build robots so he  _ could  _ be in his element. He wouldn’t be, but, the thought of someone being there while he works is comforting.

The spread that’s laid out in between them is impressive—Lucas doesn’t have to ask how it’s stayed so well, he’s not an idiot—from sandwiches to fresh fruit and a red wine that matches absolutely perfectly, and Lucas wasn’t aware that wines could  _ match _ food. When he mentions it to Taako, the elf laughs and goes on a proper tangent, and Lucas wishes he could listen; the large hat is set aside and Taako’s hair frames his face wonderfully, the light shining on him between the leaves of the surrounding bushes, and Lucas feels overwhelmed and at peace at the same time.

They finish their food and end up leaned against the wooden bars of the gazebo, nursing their third glasses of wine and watching the wind blow through the too-green leaves. 

“So,” Taako drawls, swirling the contents of his glass around thoughtfully, “you ready to tell me about yourself, Luc?”

The snort that bubbles out of Lucas surprises them both, and Taako looks over quizzically. “Sorry. Nobody’s called me that in a while.”

“Is it alright?”

Lucas nods, and tells Taako what he knows. He works at a coffee shop to make money continuing and furthering his mother’s work learning about their world inside and out. She died a little over two years ago, and he doesn’t think he’s processed it fully, but he’s doing better. She’s the reason he found such a fascination with robotics and bettering the technological world, and No-3113 is his first major success. He likes who he’s become, finally. And he’s incredibly lonely. But that goes unspoken.

Taako remains quiet, still watching where the leaves flutter in the gentle breeze, and when Lucas stops, the two of them make eye contact and it’s...different. Lighter.

“What about you?”

They barely have anything in common, but Lucas expected that. A loving sister and brother-in-law, best friends, an outgoing personality fit for television. But the more he listens, the more he’s interested in Taako, which, again, he expected. And by the time he finishes, they make eye contact again, Taako’s soft smile meeting Lucas’.

“You’re way more interesting.”

Silence overcomes them once again, and Lucas thinks he could live in this moment forever. His thoughts drift to figuring out a way to capture memories like butterflies in a net, to relive again and again. Taako sits up and his ears perk forward, and he thinks about how he doesn’t have to relive  _ this  _ memory, he wants to make  _ other  _ memories with Taako. Taako’s the recurring theme, and Lucas is scared of it.

“Luco,” Taako whispers, making to stand up, “we have to go. Now.”

“What?”

“ _ Lucas.”  _ Oh no. Oh no, oh no.

“Oh no, I’m not that fast, I can’t outrun royal  _ fucking  _ guard—”

“We don’t have to run,” Taako says as he shoves things impossibly into the picnic basket, throwing his hat back on and sliding the basket onto his forearm, “but we gotta move briskly, my dude.”

They end up having to run. It’s an image straight out of the movies: Taako, swinging a picnic basket wildly as he fires off distraction spells over the guards’ heads with one hand, holding his hat with another, as Lucas follows behind, face frozen in sheer terror as they approach the fence they floated over to get in. Lucas doesn’t have time to think about Taako grabbing his hand to float them over the fence, and they’re able to keep running, ducking into the nearest alley to get out of eyesight of the guards standing by the fence, scanning for the two of them.

There’s a beat, and the two of them start laughing breathlessly. Standing next to each other in some alleyway, pressed against the wall to avoid getting in trouble for breaking and entering, still holding hands. The whole thing is surreal and, if you had told Lucas that this was what his day would be, he would have called you an idiot.

“I thought you said we didn’t have to worry!” Lucas exclaims between laughs and trying to get air back in his lungs, and Taako shakes his head, pulls his hand away, and pokes his head out to look if the goons were still standing guard.

“We’re in the clear.”

“Okay, just—give me a minute. Fuck.”

Taako watches with an amused smile as Lucas catches his breath, hands on his hips, staring at his feet to avoid making eye contact that he’ll regret.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go.”

Walking back to Lucas’ home feels like the world’s longest adventure. Lucas is suddenly hyper aware of where Taako’s hands are and what he’s doing with his own, and every minute that passes is another one where he’s thinking about how things have gone. Was it okay? Did Taako feel the same about him? Was this just a friends thing? Oh god, he totally beefed it talking about robots so much.

“The Taako train stops here,” Taako announces as they stop in front of Lucas’ place, smiling at him warmly. Lucas has to stop his heart from beating so hard to force a smile and think of a coherent response.

“Thank you for everything. I had a lot of fun.”

“Sorry we got busted. That’s on me.”

“While I would have never agreed if I had known,” Blatant lie. “it made it memorable.”

Taako chuckles and shifts on his feet, and finally, Lucas can tell that he’s not the only one that’s nervous—he knows Taako’s not amazing at emotions, he realized that one pretty early on by being completely unable to read him. “Same time next week?”

“What? I have work and I can’t just keep calling out—”

“Cool cool cool, so same time next week.”

“Were you even  _ listening?  _ I can maybe do the week after, I-I-I’d want to give Carey proper notice before just  _ switching  _ my days like that—”

“Can I kiss you?”

Lucas’s brain stops. Later, he’ll think about never in his stupid  _ life  _ has his brain been quiet for a fucking change.

So, he nods dumbly, and Taako gives an amused chuckle before cupping one of his cheeks with a soft hand and tilting him up a little to kiss him. Gentle, but firm—exactly what Lucas would expect.

When the elf pulls back, he gives a gentle smile, one that feels private and for  _ Lucas _ , before standing up straight and pivoting on a heel. “Same time next week!” he shouts over his shoulder as he walks away.

And, if Lucas walked inside and celebrated with No-3113, well, Taako didn’t need to know about it.


End file.
